As low-nicotine cigarettes hit the market, anti-smoking groups press for wider standard

more than 480,000 deaths a year

22nd Century says it used a patent-protected process to control nicotine biosynthesis in the tobacco plant, enabling it to create a pack of cigarettes with about as much nicotine as one Marlboro. It says generally that it uses", including genetic engineering, gene-editing, and molecular breeding." Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew L. Myers supports the development of an industrywide low-nicotine standard, saying the concept would work only if consumers no longer had the alternative of a higher-nicotine cigarette.

"If people are looking at this as a magic bullet and are still continuing their tobacco use, they are not doing anything to change their risk," said Sward, of the lung association.

Ireland Ireland Latest News, Ireland Ireland Headlines